Shoe half sole or tap



Jan. 27, 1948. v F. CLEVE, JR 2,434,990

SHOE HALF SOLE OR TAP Filed Dec. 18, 1945 INVENTOR. 5 4/? were, Jr.

It I r I arrow Patented Jan. 27, 1948 UNH'ED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOEHALF SOLE R TAP Frank Cleve, Jr., Kansas City, Mo.

Application December 18, 1945, Serial No. 635,676

4 Claims. 1

g This invention relates to shoes and particularly to repair partstherefor in the nature of halfholes or taps and the primary aim of theinvention is to provide such an article of manufacture that may beemployed in the original manufacture of shoes or in the rebuildingthereof to the end that the wearer may have correct posture, properwalking and a relief of ankle strain because of the form of the halfsole and its ability to overcome the tendency of the shoe wearer toimpart greater wear to that area of the shoe half sole underying theoutside ball of the foot. One of the important objects of the inventionis to provide a shoe half sole or tap that is molded or otherwise formedto present a relatively thick portion near one longitudinal edge of thehalf sole body, while the remaining part of the said body progressivelydecreases in thickness as the periphery is approached in all directions.

Other objects of the invention include the provision of a shoe half soleor tap which is so formed as to establish a relatively small flat areaat one longitudinal edge of the body of the half sole, while theremaining part of the half sole becomes progressively thinner as theopposite longitudinal edge and the ends thereof are approached.

Other aims of the invention will appear during the course of thefollowing specification referring to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the normally inside face of a shoe halfsole or tap made pursua nt to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an edge elevational view of the half sole. and

Fig. 3 is a transverse cross sectional view taken on line IIIIII of Fig.1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

The placement of soles having uniform thicknesses throughout their areaon shoes at the factory or in the repair shop may result in anobjectionable wearing below the outside ball of the foot. due to theuniversal tendency to place more weight upon that part of the foot thanelsewhere. When shoe soles start to wear beneath the outside ba l of thefoot, a rol ing of the shoe sole along the inner longitudinal edges isthe inevitable result and a destructive action is commenced so far asthe appearance of the entire shoe is concerned. When the shoe sole isworn at a zone beneath the outside ball of the foot, walking becomesdifficult because of the twisting action and a strain is imparted to themuscles of the foot and ankle. Correct posture is not possible and theheels of the shoes are usually worn down to an objectionable degree aswearing of the sole progresses. In many instances filler pieces orwedges have been inserted along the entire length of the shoe tapin aneffort to avoid the wearing tendencies above mentioned and thedestructive results arising therefrom. A slipping of these added unitsis the inevitable result and their inability to create a smoothgradually tapering half sole or tap is one of the main reasons why theycannot be successfully assembled with half soles having uniformthickness throughout their areas.

So far as I am aware there is no half sole or tap for shoes that iscontoured to solve the many problems above enumerated. Thehalf soleshown in the accompanying drawing is capable of fulfilling the objectsabove set down and many others that will occur to those skiled in theart.

The half sole illustrated comprises a body general'y designated by thenumeral l0 and having the contour of conventional half soles nowemployed in the construction and repair of shoes but the thickness ofbody Ill is such as to present a flat surface 12 that is normally theouter surface of the body IE when the latter is in the operativeposition. The normally inner face of body ID has a comparatively smallflat area I4 at one longitudinal edge thereof and on its mediantransverse line.

This flat area l4 underlies the outer ball of the foot when body I0 isaffixed to the shoe. The remaining portion of the inner face of body Ii]is designated by the numeral i6 and is inclined downwardly and outwardlyfrom area M to present a gradually decreasing thickness to body 10 asends [8 and 20 and longitudinal edge 22 are approached. Thus thethickness of longitudinal edge 22 is less than the thickness of edge 24where area 54 is located and since face I2 is exposed to view andpresents the ground or walking surface engaging face of body 10, norocking or objectionable tilting of the foot will occur but the desiredamount of elevation is imparted to the outer ball of the foot and thewear which occurs at the outer surface It opposite to this area M willbe less destructive so far as the length of the life of the shoe sole isconcerned. This wear, which inevitably occurs in a great percentage ofshoe soles, is invariably greater at the outer longitudinal edge of thesole and gradually decreases in intensity as the opposite or innerlongitudinal edge is approached. Therefore, the inclined portion it ofthe half sole or tap just described will wear thin so far as necessityof replacement is concerned at a uniform degree throughout its entireextent.

Half soles made as above described may be economically molded and thenecessity of building up or inserting filler wedges is completelyobviated when the sole is put to use by placement on a shoe. The inneredge of flat surface [4 which merges with inclined face 16 issubstantially arcuate and the inclined face i6 extends to those portionsof longitudinal edge 24 between flat face [4 and ends l8 and 20 thereof.The soles of shoes must be applied so that the relatively thick portionor flat surface 14 underlies the outer ball of both the right and leftfeet.

The material from which body In is constructed is of no criticalimportance and such reenforcement of body in through the use of cords orthe like as desired may be used.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A shoe half sole comprising a generally flat body including a flatnormally outer face and an inner face having a flat area at onelongitudinal edge of the body, the remaining portion of the inner facebeing inclined downwardly and outwardly from the said area to theopposite longitudinal edge of the body and to each end of said bodyrespectively.

2. A shoe half sole comprising a generally flat body including a fiatnormally outer face and an inner face having a fiat area at onelongitudinal 0 edge of the body, the remaining portion of the in- 3 nerface being inclined downwardly and outwardly from the said area, saidfiat area being substantially oval in shape and disposed on the medianportion of the body.

3. A shoe half sole comprising a generally flat body including athickest portion at one longitudinal edge thereof and intermediate itsends, and a portion comprising the remainder of the body, progressivelydecreasing in thickness as the opposite longitudinal edge and the endsof the body are approached.

4. A shoe half sole comprising a generally flat body including athickest area extending inwardly from a portion of the periphery of onelongitudinal edge thereof and intermediate'its ends, and a portioncomprising the remainder of the body having opposite surfacesprogressively approaching each other as the remainder of the peripheryof the body is approached, the thickness of said area beingsubstantially the same throughout the width and breadth thereof.

- FRANK CLEVE, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 25 Number Name Date 1,669,987 La Chappelle May 5,1928 2,052,115 Shulman Aug. 25, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date383,007 Germany Oct. 9, 1923 642,669 Germany Mar. 11, 1937

